Saucy Grilled Pork

Until about a year ago I thought that cooking pork on the grill was weird, but after trying a few recipes suggested by some friends I quickly changed my mind.  This recipe could be done with pork chops but I think that pork tenderloin is much more likely to be tender and juicy.  This recipe was adapted from one that I made a long time ago that used most of these ingredients to create a rub for a whole pork tenderloin.  I decided to turn it into a marinade and slice into pieces for less cook time.  I made the entire meal on the grill which made for a super easy clean up!  I made green beans and potatoes in foil packs- no additional pots and pans!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Pork Tenderloin cut into Medallion pieces
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• 1/4 teaspoon Paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/4 Cup Catilina Dressing
• 1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1/8 teaspoon Dried Thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Mustard
• 1 teaspoon Olive Oil

Serves 4

In a small bowl combine all ingredients except pork and mix well.

Take each piece of pork and give it a gentle pound with your fist to slightly flatten it.  Pour marinade mixture over pork and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

 Preheat grill.  Sear each side of the meat.  Then grill until desired internal temp.  Mine took about 5 mins on each side. 

BBQ Rub for Slow Cooker Chicken

 

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 3/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon Salt
• 3/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Ground Mustard
• A Couple Dashes of Cayenne Pepper
• 4-5 lb Whole Chicken

Combine all ingredients, except chicken, in a small bowl.  Mix spices together to make it easier to evenly distribute them.  Clean and rinse inside of chicken.  Pat dry with a paper towel.  Cover with spice mixture and you can even put some inside the chicken.  Place chicken in slow cooker.  Add about a cup of water to the bottom of the slow cooker.

Cook on HIGH for about 4 hours or low for about 6 hours or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

I served with Fried Noodles and Steamed Broccoli.

I can get two meals out of this chicken, I will use the leftovers to make BBQ Chicken Wraps

Sweet Cajun Chicken

My husband was supposed to grill tonight, but I could make him do it in the rain.  A little bit of rain yes....rain with thunder that shakes the house and lightning that  lights up the whole neighborhood-no.  So I decided to "grill" the chicken inside. No I am not talking a George Foreman Grill, I used something WAY better.  I used my square cast iron grill pan that I got a few weeks ago.  Scott said that it was just as good if not better.  It was AWESOME! But I can't let him out of his grilling duties that easy!  This marinade definitely makes the top of my list for marinades.  The combination of spices is perfect!  I will be making again SOON!

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
• 2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
• 1/2 Cup Canola Oil
• 2 Tablespoons of Cajun Seasoning
• 2 Tablespoons of Dried Parsley
• 2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Combine all of the ingredients except chicken in a small bowl and mix well.  Marinate chicken in the fridge for about an hour.  

Heat cast iron grill pan (or outside grill) and cook thoroughly.  I didn't add any oil to the pan the marinade provides enough.

I served with Skinny Spinach Mac & Cheese and Herb Butter Corn on the Cob (which I cut off the cob this time)
ALL three of these recipes should be on your must make list!!!!!!!!

This recipe was featured on our 30 Days of Dinners June Menu, Make sure to check out all of the other great recipes on this month's menu!

BBQ Pulled Pork {Cincinnati Style}

Tracy and Scott lived in Cincinnati for about 6 years.  During that time they fell in love with several of the local restaurants, pizza places, and even Cincinnati Chili.  Montgomery Inn is a restaurant that started in the 1950's in Montgomery Ohio.  The owners now have three locations (all in Ohio), their products can be found on the shelves of grocery stores in 23 states, and they ship Ribs and Chicken all over the U.S.  Sometimes I can find the Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce at a grocery store here in Northern Virginia, but most often friends bring it when they come to visit.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons Ketchup
• 2-2 1/2 lbs of Pork Tenderloin
• Montgomery Inn BBQ Sauce (that's what makes it Cincy Style)

Place pork tenderloin in slow cooker.  Mix together brown sugar, vinegar, and ketchup.  Poor over meat.  

 Cook on low 4-6 hours or until meat pulls apart easily with a fork.

Remove from slow cooker and shred with two forks.  Coat with your favorite BBQ sauce.  If you can get your hands on it, make sure you use Montgomery Inn sauce.  

This recipe is the recipe that Tracy used for her BBQ Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese Sandwiches.

This recipe was featured on our 30 Days of Dinners June Menu, Make sure to check out all of the other great recipes on this month's menu!

Green Waldorf Salad with Honey Yogurt Dressing

Waldorf Salad was always a staple at family barbecues and picnics growing up. I don't see it as much anymore but there is a sort of nostalgia that it brings to a cook-out. So when we were planning our meal for tonight and we were planning on grilling the meat and potatoes, I thought of waldorf salad. However, we did not want your traditional, mayonnaise-heavy salad. We thought we'd turn it into a "green" salad and put the ingredients over a bed of lettuce. From there we thought we'd do a creamy vinaigrette, but decided we'd use greek yogurt versus mayo to keep it healthier. It was the perfect compliment to our spring cook-out!

First make the dressing.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup canola oil

Mix all ingredients except the oil in a food processor and mix until well blended.  Add the oil in last and blend well.  Chill for 30 minutes.

Now chop up the ingredients for your salad. You can realty use whatever lettuce you have on hand, but we chose to use a blend of romaine and spinach.

Salad ingredients:

• Romaine lettuce and baby spinach
• Peeled and chopped Red Apples
• Grapes
• Celery
• Pecans
• Blue Cheese Crumbles

For the salad, use the amount of ingredients that you prefer for your salad. I like an even mix of lettuce to spinach and lots of cheese! But keep the cheese to a minimum if you are going the lighter route. The celery has quite a bite to it, so I recommend only using a small palmful of chopped celery. Lightly toss your salad in the dressing and serve. Yum!

We served this with Grilled Bourbon Pork Medallions and Rosemary Chive Grilled Potatoes.

This recipe was featured on our Appetizing April Menu. Check out the entire April menu for a variety of dinner ideas!

Best Darn Pork BBQ

My younger sister has celiac disease and therefore cannot eat any gluten. Since she often comes over for dinner, I try to find ways to make gluten free food, or at least give her gluten free options when she eats here. Everything in this post is gluten free EXCEPT the pretzel rolls. While I wholeheartedly prefer the rolls, this meal still does taste great over rice. I ate at a Latin restaurant once that served Kahlua pork with coconut rice and bacon black beans, it was delicious! I think you could cook your rice in coconut milk and just crumple cooked bacon in your beans and use my pork recipe to create this. Maybe I'll make that with the leftover pork and post later!

Anyway, here are the ingredients for the pork roast:

• 2-3 lbs. pork roast
• 1 tbsp. dry mustard
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. sea salt
• 1 tbsp. black pepper
• 1/4 cup liquid smoke

I'm going to be honest and say I never measure out those spices. I just rub them all over the meat until it looks well coated in the spice rub. Use however much you think is appropriate for your taste. After you rub the spices on the pork, place in slow cooker and pour in liquid smoke. Cook on low for at least 12 hours. The longer the better. I recommend cooking on low for 8-10 hours then leave on "keep warm" overnight. I have left this on low for 20 hours before and it was deliciously (forgot to turn to keep warm before bed so it cooked on low all night). Transfer the pork to a dish and shred with a fork. Since inlet this cook all night, I store it until dinner that night, so I reserve about 1/2 cup of the liquid from slow cooker for later. I then heat up pork in the liquid in a pan on the stove. Serve with warm BBQ sauce below.

BBQ Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 cup ketchup (Heinz for gluten free)
• 2 tbsp.  Orange Juice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce (Lea and Perrins or Kroger for gluten free)
• Dashes of liquid smoke, cayenne pepper and dry mustard

Again, I don't measure the last few ingredients, just a dash is how I measure. Use more cayenne if you like your BBQ spicy, none at all if you don't want any spice. You can use a bit more sugar and even add honey if you like your BBQ sauce even sweeter. Add BBQ sauce to the pork and combine. Serve on pretzel rolls.

This recipe was featured in Two Magical Moms March Menu Madness and our Appetizing April Menu.  Check out the menus and try out some of our other YUMMY recipes!